Abstract:
Microfinance on women's empowerment in entrepreneurship is a timely topic for discussion.
Accordingly, this research delves into the impact of microfinance on the empowerment of
women’s entrepreneurship in the Rathnapura District. The researchers targeted the Rathnapura
district and conducted this research because it is among the ten (10) districts with the highest
number of women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. However, research has yet to be conducted in
this district, and it forged to conduct a study on the present theme. The study population
consisted of women entrepreneurs running their businesses in the Rathnapura district, and 100
women entrepreneurs were selected as the sample using convenience sampling. This study
employed descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses as data analysis tools. This study
examined the impact of microcredit and microwaving on women entrepreneurs' social and
economic empowerment. Hypothesis 1 (H1) posits that microcredit significantly influences
social empowerment in women's entrepreneurship. A Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.751
indicated a strong positive relationship, and the significance value (0.000) supported this
hypothesis. Similarly, Hypothesis 2 (H2) suggests that microcredit significantly affects the
economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs. The correlation coefficient remains at
0.751, indicating a strong positive relationship with a significance value of 0.001, which also
supports this hypothesis. The results showed a positive relationship between microfinance and
women's entrepreneurship. These findings underscore the pivotal role of microfinance in
fostering economic and social empowerment among women entrepreneurs, offering
invaluable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the microfinance sector.
